Jamon Iberico de Bellota & Aged Manchego on Baugette

This is the best ham and cheese one can make. Jamon Iberico de Bellota is the most expensive and tasty ham in the world.  Wild pigs that feed on acorns and roam the Spanish county side are cured for 36 month to create this intense and long lasting flavorful meat.  The classic Spanish Manchego cheese is aged for up to two years.  I bought a baguette from Balthazar bakery in NYC and gave it a light swipe of dijon mustard then added the ham and cheese.  Simple but incredible.

Fried Egg Au Gratin

I dressed up some regular old fried eggs to make a more appealing breakfast.  This takes 10 minutes, costs $3 and feeds one.

Fried Egg with Manchego Cheese

2 organic eggs

1 organic leek, chopped

1 organic shallot, thin sliced

1 piece aged Manchego cheese, grated

1 tablespoon butter

In a medium sautee pan start butter with shallots and leeks.  Let cook for 5 minutes or until lightly golden.  Add two eggs to pan and let cook.  Place in broiler with a little cheese on top to cook tops of eggs.  Add more shaved cheese on top to finish. 

Great start to a great morning!  Buon Apetitio!!

Ricotta Gnocchi with Gorgonzola-Red Pepper Cream Sauce

Gnocchi are usually made with either potato or ricotta cheese. I chose to go with ricotta cheese because its faster and much less work then doing potato gnocchi. I had a few friends over for dinner and they all helped in making the dinner a success. The gnocchi with sauce cost about $20, feeds 5 (with leftovers) and takes about 1.5 hours total.

Ricotta Gnocchi
1 lb of whole milk ricotta, strained and drained for 1 hour
2 cups semolina flour (you can use AP flour)
4 eggs
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons garlic oil with fine chopped garlic pieces

Start a large pot of heavily salted boiling water. For the garlic oil start a small saute pan on low and add 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh garlic and three teaspoons of oil. Let it cook until garlic is softened, about 15 minutes and let cool. Mix all of the ingredients very well in a large bowl. You should have a very soft dough. Scoop out little balls with a spoon and place on a well floured baking sheet. It is easier to work with the dough if your hands are a little wet. Once portioned, roll each piece into a round ball. You can mark them with a fork or just put a little indent into them to give them some design. Place then in the boiling water for about 5 minutes or until tender. Serve immediately and top with the Gorgonzola red pepper sauce.

Gorgonzola - Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
3 oz Gongonzola cheese, chunked
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 roasted red pepper, diced
salt and pepper

In a small Sauce pan add chicken stock on medium and let reduce to half. Add the cream and turn the heat down to medium low. Let that cook for 10 minutes. Add the two cheeses and whisk that into the cream mixture until smooth. Now add the red peppers with some salt and pepper. Let that cook ten more minutes and serve on top of the gnocchi. Top it with some fresh thyme.

Thanks to Dana, Shawn, Brett and Gerri for the wine, help and company. Dana made a great scallop, arugula, lemon and caper salad to compliment the rich gnocchi. We served broccoli rabe as a side dish and we also made some garlic bread with the leftover garlic oil which was perfect for soaking up the Gorgonzola cheese sauce. All in all it was a great meal with great friends. Buon Appetito!

Prime Roast Beef and St. Andre Cheese on Rye

This awesome sandwich was made with a few of my favorite ingredients. First, prime rare cooked roast beef from my local supermarket, Epicure, is the best roast beef I have ever tasted. Second is St Andre cheese. St Andre is a triple cream cheese, which means it has 75% fat content, which means it tastes amazing. You can usually find it in the grocery store cheese section. I also threw in some parsley for color and for a sharp contrast between the creamy cheese and rich meat. The bread was a whole wheat rye. For a dressing I made some creamy horseradish sauce which added spiciness and moisture. Overall this is in the top of the lifetime favorite sandwiches. Enjoy!

Creamy Horseradish Sauce
2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons of sour cream
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1 dash white vinegar

Mix it all together and put on anything!

Classy Egg and Cheese on a Bagel

Egg and cheese sandwiches are probably the most popular breakfast food on the go. I decided to take this classic and move it up the class scale to get a new take on the old standard. I used 1 egg and about the same amount of pure egg whites and scrambled them into the size and shape of my bagel. The cheese is Brillat-Savarin (brie would be an easy sub). I toasted a whole wheat bagel, hit it with a little creme fraische and topped the whole thing with some tomato, fresh marjoram and arugula. From ordinary to extraordinary in the same amount of time as the ordinary. Yum breakfast!

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Egg and Cheese with Ribeye

Breakfast is probably my favorite meal and egg sandwiches are always key to a good morning. I had some leftover ribeye from last nights dinner so I decided to take advantage of the situation with this great breakfast sandwich.

I have been using sandwich thins recently because they are good for breakfast and lunch sandwiches, as well as low on carbs. I seared the ribeye in some butter to reheat it and get it juicy. I sauteed onions and a few kinds of peppers (jalepeno, hungarian and cubanelle) in a small pan and then add a single seasoned scrambled egg to the onion and pepper mix. I then toasted the sandwich thin in hot pan with butter. I put it all together with a little cream cheese, ketchup, lettuce, tomato and american cheese.

I call this one the breakfast of champions.

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